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Malaysian plane sent out engine data before vanishing

THE search continues. As we went to press, there was still no sign of the Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777 that disappeared on a midnight flight out of Kuala Lumpur on 8 March. But New Scientist has learned that at least two packages of data about the health of the plane’s key systems were received by the airline before it went missing. These could help investigators work out what happened.

It is understood that Rolls Royce, which made and monitors the aircraft’s engines, received engine data for the plane’s take-off and its climb. The information came from the Aircraft Communications Addressing and Reporting System, which files four reports during each flight&colon; at take off, climb, cruise and landing. Aviation rules bar the release of information about what the data contained, pending an investigation. But the fact it has been received at all means that Malaysia Airlines should have some information on flight MH370’s systems before it disappeared with 239 people on board.

Meanwhile, search teams are listening out for the plane’s Emergency Locator Transmitter, which separates from aircraft wreckage and floats in saltwater. And the plane’s cockpit voice and flight data recorders, the “black boxes”, each include an ultrasonic acoustic transmitter that, for up to 30 days after submersion, can be detected by sonar receivers, allowing ships or submarines to home in on the source. China has also redeployed 10 satellites to help with the search.